Town of Purcellville Candidates Forum
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Citizens for Purcellville has invited each of the candidates to a candidate forum to be held on September 10th at 7pm at Purcellville Baptist Church.
The full text of the email sent to candidates is included below (note that when we first sent the email, we did not have a location.) We sincerely hope that all candidates will participate in this event and invite other organizations to join in on the organization as co-hosts.
____________________________________________________
Dear Candidates,
You are invited to participate in a non-partisan public candidate forum on September 10, 2026 beginning at 7pm.
This event is being hosted by Citizens for Purcellville and we have also reached out to several other local organizations and media outlets to see if they wish to co-host this event. The location of the event is currently TBD, however we anticipate that it will be held in an appropriate venue within the Town of Purcellville and expect to have a location secured by the end of the next week. We also anticipate the ability to livestream the event to one or more publicly accessible non-partisan web feeds.
To ensure impartiality, a neutral moderator will serve as the facilitator of the event. Mr. Ben Freeman, is an LCPS educator at Riverside High School, teaching Social Science and Global Studies. He is a graduate of Clemson University and the University of Virginia, and was selected in 2023 as Riverside High School teacher of the year.
The proposed format and rules of the candidate forum are as follows:
• The forum will consist of two parts. A mayoral candidate session and a town council member session.
• Each session will begin with candidates presenting a prepared opening statement (1 minute).
• The opening will be followed by moderated questions. The mayoral session will include approximately 40 minutes for questions, while the town council member session will last approximately 60 minutes for questions.
• The order in which candidates will provide their response will initially be determined by random drawing of candidate names, after which the order will rotate sequentially based on the initial draw.
• After each question is presented, the candidates will be given 30 seconds to consider their response. Candidates may voluntarily choose to not answer a question. Each candidate will have 1 minute for their initial response to a question. Once all candidates have responded, each candidate will be given an additional 30 seconds on the topic.
• Response times may be adjusted by the moderator in the event that one or more candidates choose not to participate in any particular question, however each participating candidate will have equal time.
• Questions will be selected by the moderator from a list of questions generated by local high school students in the Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment government/social studies curriculum at Loudoun Valley and Woodgrove High Schools. Candidates and members of the public will also be given the opportunity to submit a question in the hour prior to the forum. Submission will be via index cards to the moderator.
• At the end of the allotted question period, each candidate will be given 2 minutes to make a closing statement.
• Candidates agree to maintain proper decorum and abide by time limits. A digital timer will be provided and visible to candidates and audience members.
• Candidates agree not to disseminate campaign information (flyers, handouts, or campaign materials) at the event and shall not display any campaign signs/banners on the property of the forum.
• All candidates are welcome to stay at the venue for 30 minutes after the forum to interact with any members of the community/attendees.
• No media interviews will take place at the event.
• Candidates are welcome to record the event utilizing their own equipment in a manner that is not distracting to the participants. The organizers of the event intend to record the event and hope to offer a live broadcast of the event to a non-partisan web address that will be specifically created for this event.
• Following the event, all candidates will be welcome to repost the full unedited recording or unedited portions of the recorded event.
Participation in the event indicates a candidate’s willingness to abide by the rules provided, however we are willing to discuss any concerns that any campaign may have about the proposed format or rules.
For planning purposes, an acknowledgement of this email and RSVP to this invitation is appreciated.
The full text of the email sent to candidates is included below (note that when we first sent the email, we did not have a location.) We sincerely hope that all candidates will participate in this event and invite other organizations to join in on the organization as co-hosts.
____________________________________________________
Dear Candidates,
You are invited to participate in a non-partisan public candidate forum on September 10, 2026 beginning at 7pm.
This event is being hosted by Citizens for Purcellville and we have also reached out to several other local organizations and media outlets to see if they wish to co-host this event. The location of the event is currently TBD, however we anticipate that it will be held in an appropriate venue within the Town of Purcellville and expect to have a location secured by the end of the next week. We also anticipate the ability to livestream the event to one or more publicly accessible non-partisan web feeds.
To ensure impartiality, a neutral moderator will serve as the facilitator of the event. Mr. Ben Freeman, is an LCPS educator at Riverside High School, teaching Social Science and Global Studies. He is a graduate of Clemson University and the University of Virginia, and was selected in 2023 as Riverside High School teacher of the year.
The proposed format and rules of the candidate forum are as follows:
• The forum will consist of two parts. A mayoral candidate session and a town council member session.
• Each session will begin with candidates presenting a prepared opening statement (1 minute).
• The opening will be followed by moderated questions. The mayoral session will include approximately 40 minutes for questions, while the town council member session will last approximately 60 minutes for questions.
• The order in which candidates will provide their response will initially be determined by random drawing of candidate names, after which the order will rotate sequentially based on the initial draw.
• After each question is presented, the candidates will be given 30 seconds to consider their response. Candidates may voluntarily choose to not answer a question. Each candidate will have 1 minute for their initial response to a question. Once all candidates have responded, each candidate will be given an additional 30 seconds on the topic.
• Response times may be adjusted by the moderator in the event that one or more candidates choose not to participate in any particular question, however each participating candidate will have equal time.
• Questions will be selected by the moderator from a list of questions generated by local high school students in the Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment government/social studies curriculum at Loudoun Valley and Woodgrove High Schools. Candidates and members of the public will also be given the opportunity to submit a question in the hour prior to the forum. Submission will be via index cards to the moderator.
• At the end of the allotted question period, each candidate will be given 2 minutes to make a closing statement.
• Candidates agree to maintain proper decorum and abide by time limits. A digital timer will be provided and visible to candidates and audience members.
• Candidates agree not to disseminate campaign information (flyers, handouts, or campaign materials) at the event and shall not display any campaign signs/banners on the property of the forum.
• All candidates are welcome to stay at the venue for 30 minutes after the forum to interact with any members of the community/attendees.
• No media interviews will take place at the event.
• Candidates are welcome to record the event utilizing their own equipment in a manner that is not distracting to the participants. The organizers of the event intend to record the event and hope to offer a live broadcast of the event to a non-partisan web address that will be specifically created for this event.
• Following the event, all candidates will be welcome to repost the full unedited recording or unedited portions of the recorded event.
Participation in the event indicates a candidate’s willingness to abide by the rules provided, however we are willing to discuss any concerns that any campaign may have about the proposed format or rules.
For planning purposes, an acknowledgement of this email and RSVP to this invitation is appreciated.
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Where is it happening?
Purcellville Baptist Church, 601 Yaxley Dr,Purcellville,VA,United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherCitizens for Purcellville
